BWE has landed in San Francisco....

[JimHow]

Arriving in the Bay Area for a review of the BWE West Coast chapter, will report on weekend rendezvous. Over.

[JoelD]

Should be a fun one. I was sad that I couldn't make this work with my schedule. Say hi to everyone for me and also Happy Birthday to MP!

[DavidG]

Have a great trip Jim. Looking forward to hearing about it.

[Michael-P]

Joel: Thanks!

Waiting to board my flight to SFO. Hope my wines survive the checked bag bouncing. Picked some not very old (60s and 70s) Bordeaux but hopefully good and interesting ones. We’ll all find out tomorrow!

Peter managed to get many SF BWE old timers to come so it will be fun to catch up with them all. As we all know, BWE is about the people.

Michael-P

[JimHow]

With old friends, thank you Victoria and Peter for hosting us!

[Nicklasss]

Great to see all these BWEers in great shape!

Hello to all.

[Comte Flaneur]

Great pictures, and long time since I have seen Arv, hopefully he is back in the fold now?

[JCNorthway]

Thanks for the photos. Good to see some familiar faces from earlier days of BWE. Ironically I did not see photos of a row of empty bottles, but I'm sure there were some good ones opened.

[SF Ed]

We opened a lot of great bottles and it was great to see so many old timers, including Werner and Chris (and their daughter who is now a young adult) and David and Nancy along with many other usual suspects.

Peter and Victoria were fantastic hosts. It is always heartwarming to see the goodwill and camaraderie of BWE folks.

SF Ed

[dstgolf]

Wow! Just catching up on BWE after coming back from an epic golf trip with some friends celebrating my buddies 60th who got a hole in one while in Barbados. Man, golf gods treated him well. We ate and drank well with hi lights being 2015 Mouton, Pichon Lalonde and Beycheville.

Great to see the west coast crowd and especially Werner and Chris who we haven't seen in years along with Arv. Their daughter I guess is peaking over Jim's shoulder in one of the photos. How time flies. Amazing to see everyone 25+ years post BWE inception and still that personal attraction of friends gathering to share some grape juice is still going strong. Thanks for sharing everyone.

[JoelD]

Looks like it was a great evening. I'm sure Peter was a great host. Sad to have missed it.

Any wine highlights?

[SF Ed]

The wine highlights for me were the 1982 L'Evangile, the 1974 Montelena, and the 2002 Latour. Other memorable wines for me were the 2002 Chevillon Chaignots and the 1971 Pavie. There were many many others too.

SF Ed

[DavidG]

Jim’s new theme song:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KnPL5OXSBNE

[stefan]

Oooh...When I first had the 1982 L'Evangile (provided by Stuart) I thought, "this wine is perfect in the sense that I cannot think of how it could be better and keep the same character".

[JimHow]

I loved those wines Ed mentioned, as well as the 2002 Vieux Chateaux Certan interestingly, as I've never considered 2002 great on the right bank. The 1995 Ducru was tight at first but opened up by the end of the night. Michael's 1971 Pavie was very much alive and interesting. The 2002 Latour was of course still young but by no means in any unappealing way, it had a youthful exuberance. 1982 L'Evangile...mmmm. 1974 Montelena was the ultimate Cab Fan wine.

What an absolutely lovely time at Chateau Evans, a gorgeous home in Woodside. I hadn't seen Victoria in like 25 years, she is still the same! Everyone was looking great, I can't wait til next time!

[stefan]

Hmm. The 2002 VCC was unimpressive when I last had it. I still have one bottle. Sounds like it is time to drink it.

[JimHow]

I think MichaelP liked it as well, Stefan. I think VCC is one of those properties that is never weak in any vintage.

[JimHow]

Some pictures that Arv sent along from the SF visit.

[JimHow]

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[JimHow]

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[JimHow]

By the way, I know San Fransisco has some homelessness and drug issues, blah, blah, blah, I saw some of it in the Tenderloin, it nonetheless remains one of my favorite cities, I got to experience some great restaurants and street vibe while I was there. San Francisco is just fine, folks, it is a great, great, town with great youthful energy, and the culinary scene is world class. What a bunch of nonsense from the right wing media, I'm sorry.

[William P]

Good to see the old group. Sadly, I wasn't invited but that's understandable given my low profile of late. Glad all had a good time.

Bill

[stefan]

>>Sadly, I wasn't invited..

Neither was I, Bill. My feelings are not hurt. Much.

[JimHow]

Boy, both of you guys were spoken of with reverence at the dinner, I would have very much enjoyed seeing you there.
I'm trying to get through this murder trial in February but once I do I would love to visit with as many BWEers as possible in the US and around the world.